Working with WordsLearning to read presents many issues for students with Disabilities. Some are the result of the disability and some the way materials are presented. Here are some examples.
Word Wall: Often children with disabilities have vision or movement problems and looking up at the word wall is often difficult and adds to a day already fatigued with the physical restrictions they have.
The student should have access to a word wall that is easily accessible. Maybe a file folder in front of them, pairing the words with the symbols on the voice output.
Using word prediction as the child begins to ‘write’ is often more rapid and less fatiguing.
Making words can be facilitated through magnetic letters on a cookie sheet, felt board and cards with velcro.
Guess the covered word is an activity for students with high tech communication devices. This encourages students to use vocabulary they may not otherwise use. The teacher models the use of the device to navigate and find a word or two that make sense in the sentence.
Rhyming words activity: The teacher may choose 3 words the students know and make 3 columns on paper. The students then identify words the teacher shows them or calls out that rhymes with a column. The physically disabled child can be given index cards that they move into columns.
Here are some examples.